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Little Audrey
Little Audrey (Audrey Smith) is a cartoon character from the Famous Studios era. The character is a knock-off of Marjorie Henderson Buell's Little Lulu. Lulu appeared in a series of theatrical animated shorts produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1943 to 1948, which replaced the Superman shorts of the 1940s. In all, twenty-six Little Lulu cartoons were released in a period of less than five years. A similar character, Little Audrey, was then created after Paramount failed to renew the Lulu license (and therefore avoided the payment of royalty fees). The voice of Little Lulu was performed by Cecil Roy. Little Audrey was given a different design and color scheme to Lulu and appeared in a series of cartoons from 1947 to 1958. Veteran animator Bill Tytla was the designer of Little Audrey, reportedly was also inspired by his daughter Tammy was the inspiration behind Little Audrey's design. In all of Audrey's appearances, she was voiced by Mae Questel who also performed the character's singing voice in several of the animated shorts and recorded the character's theme song for Golden Records in 1951. Theme Song Oh, Little Audrey says, Save for a rainy day. She saves, but every time it rains, She spends what she puts away. She knows her proverbs A to Z, And knows the good they bring. But when she has to follow them, Well, that's another thing. Oh, Little Audrey says, While the sun is out, make hay. Though she's not immense, There's a lot of sense, In what Little Audrey has to say. Filmography *''Santa's Surprise'' (1947) *''Olive Oyl for President' (1948)'' *''Butterscotch and Soda'' (1948) *''The Lost Dream'' (1949) *''Song of the Birds'' (1949) *''Tarts and Flowers'' (1950) *''Goofy Goofy Gander'' (1950) *''Hold the Lion Please'' (1951) *''Audrey the Rainmaker'' (1951) *''Surf Bored'' (1953) *''The Seapreme Court'' (1953) *''Dizzy Dishes'' (1954) *''Little Audrey Riding Hood'' (1955) *''Fishing Tackler'' (1957) *''Dawg Gone'' (1958) Music *"April Showers" (Audrey the Rainmaker) (1951) Discography *"Little Audrey Says" (1951) Trivia *Harvey purchased the rights to all of Famous Studios original properties, which included Little Audrey. In 1958, also acquiring the rights to the post-1950 Audrey cartoons. It was during this time that the "definitive" Audrey came into being, taking on the signature red dress and appearance most often associated with the character. *By 1960, Little Audrey was the best known of Harvey's female characters due to her multi-media presence (comic books, television/theatrical animation and various newspaper strips), although her popularity was later eclipsed by the company's other female characters, Little Dot, Wendy the Good Little Witch and Little Lotta. *During her most successful period, Audrey starred in at least four of her own titles and was a back-up feature in Richie Rich, Casper, and Dot. The character lasted until 1976, when an industry-wide distribution slump brought an end to most of Harvey's line and most children's comics in general. Since that time, the character has undergone several revivals and made scattered television and video appearances, most notably in The Richie Rich Show (1996) and Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure (1998). Category:Mae Questel Category:Little Audrey Category:Famous Studios Category:Animation Category:Paramount